Activities in Peru

Pre-departure Activities — April-June 2025

The goal of pre-departure activities is to develop a sense of community among all participants and to prepare participants for in-country experiences and activities. All pre-departure activities will be conducted online and include:

• program orientation
• workshop on developing teaching materials: “Resources and Examples”
• workshop on developing teaching materials: “Diversity Across Cultures”
• introduction to content areas

Pre-departure meetings are mandatory and will take place on April 26, May 10, May 24, and June 7 from 1-5 p.m. 

Activities in Peru — June 20–August 2, 2025

In Peru, Towson University faculty member Dr. Colleen Ebacher, a K-12 curriculum specialist and fifteen K-12 teachers will participate in language study, lectures, home stays, interviews, excursions, workshops, and cultural activities as they explore issues central to Latin America and Peru:

• history
• language, culture, art, and architecture
• indigenous peoples
• environment, education, and contemporary society

The “Partners in Education” project includes two weeks of activities in Piura and four weeks in Cusco, Peru. In-country partners include the Universidad de Piura (UDEP) in Piura and PeruSpanish (Cusco). The daily program generally runs from morning through late afternoon. In addition, two or three days each week are devoted to day-long excursions to sites of historical, architectural, artistic, and geographic importance.

Dr. Ebacher oversees all program arrangements and all sites to be visited are well-known to her or in-country project partners. Lecturers in Piura and Cusco represent leading Peruvian research centers and universities. Please note that while the dates of the program (June 20–August 2) will not change, days and/or hours of scheduled activities may.

Please consult the Full Itinerary for the program’s day-by-day, detailed list of activities.

Post-trip Activities — August 2025–August 2026

Post-trip activities are designed to ensure that the experience and knowledge gained in Peru are incorporated into the participants’ teaching and made available and disseminated to teachers and students throughout the United States. All post-trip activities will be conducted online and include:

• assessment of in-country experiences
• presentation and review of units of study
• dissemination